A bar chart also known as a OHLC (Open, High, Low, Close) chart is a collection of price bars, with each bar showing the price movements for a given time period. As shown in prior art of FIG. 1-A, each bar has a vertical line 110 that shows the highest price 114 and the lowest price 118 reached during the time period. The opening price 122 is marked by a small horizontal line on the left of the vertical line 110, and the closing price 126 is marked by a small horizontal line on the right of the vertical line 110. Bar charts are very similar to Japanese candlestick charts. The two chart types show the same information but in different ways. Candlesticks also have a vertical line showing the high and low of the period, but the difference between the open and close is represented by a thicker portion called a body. Neither of these charts show more specific information as to when the high price and low price occurred during that given time period nor do these charts even indicate which of a high price and low price came first.
Since the latter part of the nineteenth century far-eastern traders have used candlesticks for charting markets and for analysis based on trends in market psychology. Candlestick patterns are now commonly used in technical analysis to describe price movements of securities (e.g., stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, etc.), derivatives (e.g., options, forwards, futures, swaps, etc.), indices, or currencies over time. As shown in prior art of FIG. 1-B, the candlestick consists of a rectangular body 130, the height of which represents the difference between a time period's open price 134 and close price 138. A centerline projecting from the top of the rectangle extends upward to the period's high price 142 is known as an upper wick 146 whereas a similar centerline extends from the bottom to the period's low price 150 is known as a lower wick 154. When the closing trade price 138 is higher than its opening trade price 134, the body 130 of the up or bullish candlestick is filled with usually a white or green color. As shown in prior art of FIG. 1-C, as the opening trade price 134 is higher than its closing trade price 138, the body of the down or bearish candlestick is filled 158 with usually a black or red color.
The length of the candlestick varies with the price difference. When the price ranges between the opening trade price and the closing trade price increase, the body will be lengthened. Likewise, the upper or lower wick will be lengthened due to the highest or lowest trade price, respectively. As shown in prior art of FIG. 1-D, candlestick patterns have emerged due to the variety of sizes of both body and wicks. To name a few, a bullish Marubozu 160 and bearish Marubozu 165 have no wicks which occur when the highs and the lows also represent the opening and the closing prices and is considered a continuation pattern. A Hanging Man 170 can be a black or a white candlestick that consists of a small body near the high with a little or no upper wick and a long lower wick. The lower wick should be two or three times the height of the body and is considered a bearish pattern during an uptrend. Similarly, a Shooting Star 175 can be a black or a white candlestick that has a small body, a long upper wick and a little or no lower wick and is considered a bearish pattern in an uptrend.
A Dragonfly Doji 180 is formed when the opening and the closing prices are at the highest of the day. If it has a longer lower wick it signals a more bullish trend. When appearing at market bottoms it is considered to be a reversal signal and a Gravestone Doji 185 is formed when the opening and closing prices are at the lowest of the day. If it has a longer upper wick it signals a bearish trend. When it appears at market top it is considered a reversal signal. Lastly, a Long-Legged Doji 190 consists of a Doji with very long upper and lower wicks indicating strong forces balanced in opposition and possible market indecision. Nearly all candlestick patterns fall into three broad categories, namely bull, bear, and doji categories. There can be a price gap between adjacent candlesticks which occurs when the high and low price range of the first candlestick does not overlap with the high and low price of the second candlestick.
Both price bars and candlestick wicks are displayed along a centerline of a vertical axis to show the high and low price range of a given time period and does not offer more specific information as to when the high price and low price occurred during that given time period. Although an improvement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,844,487 issued on Nov. 30, 2010 by Chapman, entitled, “Computer-implemented method for displaying price and value extremes” by adding angled tips to the top and bottom of a price bar to serve as additional visual indicators that show which of the high price and low price came first, such teaching relies on adding additional graphical information and remains silent on displaying more precisely when the high price and low price had occurred in a given time period.
U.S. Patent Application 20040267654 filed on Jun. 26, 2003 by Peng, et al., entitled, “Candlestick and bar charts” similarly discloses the addition of new graphical elements in the form of one or more dotted horizontal lines that yield more information as to price direction near the open and/or close price but is silent as to offering any new information regarding when either the high and low price occurred.
To date, all known charting programs from trading software, banks, brokers, independents, and third parties similarly dynamically update a current candlestick for display in a candlestick chart during price changes throughout a given time period of the candlestick by rendering and displaying the same full fixed width of the candlestick while updating the height of the body and wicks along the centerline according to each price change leaving a user without any sense of when the time period ends and left waiting to only then view the final candlestick upon learning of the close price for that time period. The speculative reason for this is that it appears all charting engines and modules are configured to receive market data in the form of OHLC data which does not specify when the high price or low price has occurred during the time period.
Accordingly, in light of the above, there is a strong need in the art for systems, methods, and devices to overcome this lack of more specific information and provide a user with more timely and more visually accurate charting information during a given time period.